After 9 years, Apple has finally added the Apple Watch feature we've been begging for — rest days are here, and they won't break your award streaks

(Image credit: Apple)

WWDC 2024

1. iOS 18 — what's next for iPhone?
2. iPadOS 18 — will Apple finally unleash the power of iPad?
3. macOS 15 — what's new for Mac?
4. Apple Intelligence — what will it be able to do?

Last year, we were on our knees begging for Apple to finally take notice of one of the most crucial parts of fitness on Apple Watch. More than a year later, the call has finally been answered. With watchOS 11, the Apple Watch is finally going to add rest days to your fitness tracking, and they won't break your award streaks.

While watchOS 11 was a muted affair at WWDC 2024, the best Apple Watches are getting some key new fitness features very soon. First up, a new Vitals app can measure important health metrics while you sleep. Using data from heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, sleep duration, and blood oxygen, the new Vitals app can give you daily health status updates, notifying you if anything looks off.

Training load and rest days

For those of us who use the Apple Watch as a vital workout companion, there are two big new features. The first is training load, which lets you measure the intensity and impact of workouts on your body over time. "Training load helps users understand the strain on their body from workouts over the last seven days compared to the last 28 days," Apple explains. Users can score their workouts on a scale of 1 to 10, and a new algorithm will track effort in cardio-based workouts. This all adds up to training load tracking, which lets users monitor the strain of exercise on their body so as to prevent injury.

If things are getting out of hand, you can now schedule in a rest day to your training. Whether you have an injury or just need a day off, you can pause your Apple Watch rings for a day, a week, a month, or more. The best bit? It won't affect your Apple Watch award streaks.

Elsewhere on watchOS 11, Live Activities are coming to your wrist. However, Apple Watch misses out on the big new Apple Intelligence AI push coming to iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

We're covering the WWDC 2024 event as it happens. Follow WWDC 2024 LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the newly announced iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, visionOS 2, and Apple Intelligence.

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Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9